Getting around in Seoul //

I guess transportation is normally one of the first concerns when you arrive to a new city. Well, public transportation in Seoul is very easy and practical to use.

Moving from the airports (Incheon and Gimpo) to the city or vs. is easy and there are basically three options to pick from: airport bus, taxi and train+subway. There is also an easy link between the two airports with airport bus and train. I suppose the airport bus is the fastest and most economic way of moving between the airports and the city. The average price for ticket is KRW10,000 while taxi costs in average from KRW70,000 up.

Airport Limousine Bus route map can be found from http://www.airportlimousine.co.kr/route/route_eng.htm

Incheon International Airport official website: http://www.airport.kr/eng/

Depending on where you're going, you would probably pick either subway or bus to get around the city. There are 9 subway lines covering basically the whole city and reaching out to the Greater Seoul area (surrounding cities) as well. All the signs in the subway are both in Korean and English so it makes it very easy to use for non-Korean speakers. In the bus, the station names are announced also in English but the maps of the bus stops that you can find by the bus stops are not always in English so it's good to check the lines in advance from someone or from the Internet.

Bus routes within Seoul can be found from http://bus.congnamul.com/SeoulRouteWebApp/view_english/map.jsp

Interactive subway map: http://www.smrt.co.kr/Train/Subwaymap/Eng/Subwaymap.jsp

One can purchase single-tickets to use metro or bus but if you're staying in the city for week or two and using the public transportation more than once a day it will be more practical and economic to purchase T-money card (costs from KRW2,500 to KRW8,000). The card can be purchased and recharged either from/at most of the Subway stations (ticket booth) or convenience stores. When you use a transportation card (T-money card) there is a small discount and transfer discount.

More detailed information about getting around Seoul can be from "Hi Seoul" website: http://english.seoul.go.kr/cav/ga/flying.php

And about transportation in general within South Korea: http://asiaenglish.visitkorea.or.kr/ena/TR/TR_EN_5.jsp

To get from one city to another the second fastest and more ecologically friendly option is train. If you're planning on travelling more by train within a designated period of time, it's worth of considering to purchase a KR PASS (rail pass for foreign travelers).

Korea National Railroad: http://info.korail.com/2007/eng/eng_index.jsp

More details of KR PASS: http://asiaenglish.visitkorea.or.kr/ena/TR/TR_EN_5_6.jsp

Please let me know if you think that I left something out or if you have any questions. :)